Saturday, October 3, 2015

DAMNATION ALLEY (1977) Newspaper Ad

This original newspaper ad "slick" for 20th Century Fox's other big sci-fi release of 1977, Damnation Alley, certainly promises a lot. "More than a movie," even. Of course, even if it hadn't come out the same year as Star Wars, I can't imagine it would have been much better received by audiences and critics than it was. As impressive as the "Landmaster" vehicle was, the overall production was just shoddy - even for the pre-Lucas 70s.

Sure, it has a talented cast, and even a premise with a certain amount of potential, but the only way it can truly be enjoyed today (and even in '77) is as "camp"... and I say that as a guy who is notoriously forgiving when it comes to the era's sci-fi efforts (and yes, who owns the movie on Blu-ray).

A lot of goofy b-movies went on to become staple viewing of the pre-digital channels era of television - like Starcrash, Battle Beyond the Stars, Escape To Victory - and I think Damnation Alley - ropey fx and all - could have been much more fondly remembered than it was if the tone had been a little less grim so that it could have been shown during daylight hours to the audience that could appreciate it as a campy boys' own action adventure.I mean, it had Hannibal Smith and Stringfellow Hawke in it - that surely wouldn't have been too hard a sell in the mid-80s?

Besides being a mediocre movie, the fact that Damnation Alley was released in 1977 between Star Wars and Close Encounters in probably didn't help the reception it got either. I don't even remember being of aware of Damnation Alley until it was shown on network TV (with added footage even) in the early '80s, taking advantage of the nuclear war fervor caused by The Day After.

I saw a still of the giant scorpion attack in a sci-fi book as a kid and couldn't wait to see Damnation Alley. It took a long time but I caught up with it eventually, but found it looked like a sci-fi movie from 1971, not 1977, and not in a good way. Of course, if someone was making movies in this style now I'd be very happy to watch them!

I think I was around 8 or 9 years old when I first saw Damnation Alley. I loved it as a kid, since I didn't worry about cheap production values. The price of growing up is losing some of the magic. I agree that this would make a good basis for a reboot that would probably be far superior to the original.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog is dedicated to the science fiction films and television series of the 1970s - give or take a few years (say, 1969-1983) - including such nostalgic favorites as Star Wars, Space: 1999, UFO, Space Academy, the original Battlestar Galactica, Jason of Star Command, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Logan's Run and many others.

But be warned: I still love these productions with all the enthusiasm I held for them as a kid, and they will be treated here with affection and respect. If you're looking for someone to snarkily denigrate "old" movies - or like to do that yourself - you've come to the wrong site.

So journey with us back to the days when special effects were created by skillful hands and spaceships were detailed models, when robots were obligatory comedy relief, when square-jawed heroes and cloaked villains battled among the stars -- and the future was fun!

PLEASE NOTE:I do not sell (nor even buy, all that often) the memorabilia and merchandise I write about on this blog, nor do I have any idea what value your "collectibles" might have. That's not what this site is about, so please don't ask me.

ABOUT ME

Christopher Mills is a professional writer of comic books and short fiction in a variety of genres, as well as a DVD reviewer for several pop culture websites. His taste in entertainment clearly peaked when he was about 15, which certainly explains his embarrassing obsession with James Bond, hardboiled crime fiction, comic books, paperback pulps, space opera, Universal/Hammer/Toho Monsters, sword & sorcery sagas, old genre TV shows and vintage B-movies.

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Reviewing genre DVDs Since 2005

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